Educational
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of
DeKalb County and
Union County
Georgia
By
M. L. DUGGAN, Rural School Agent
Nos. 13 and 14
Under the Direction of the
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
M. L. BRITTAIN
State Superintendent of Schools
1916
Educational Surveys of
DeKalb County and
Union County
Georgia
By
M. L. DUGGAN, Rural School Agent
Nos. 13 and 14
Under the Direction of the
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
M. L. BRITTAIN
State Superintendent of Schools
1916
DeKALB AND UNION COUNTIES
The sole purpose in publishing the reports of these two
counties together is the hope that a careful study of the
school conditions in the other will stimulate each to fur
ther progress. The wide difference in resources is mainly
artificial and largely due directly or indirectly to the differ
ence in transportation facilities. Nevertheless, a very great
difference does exist.
It will be noted that one county has a school population
of 5,400, and a taxable valuation of $17,341,000.00, of
which $8,000,000.00 is subject to the local county school
tax levy. This levy of 3 1-2 mills yields $28,000.00, which
amounts to $5.19 per capita of the school population, in
addition to the amount received from the State school
funds.
In the other county the taxable valuation amounts to
$1,003,879.00, all of which would be subject to any county-
wide local school tax. A similar levy of 3 1-2 mills would yield
$3,513.62, or $1.65 per capita in addition to the State school
fund of $3.15 per capita, which would be an increase of
above 50 per cent on present condition. This ought to
enable the administration to double the present efficiency of
its public schools.
LOYALTY.
"Rah! Rah!! Rah ! ! ! — Rah ! Rah!! Rah!!!
"UN-ION HILL!!! —Rah! Rah!! Rah!!!"
DeKALB COUNTY
DeKalb County is located very near the State Capital, a
part of the county embracing some of the suburbs of At
lanta, and reached by street car lines.
The area of the county is 271 square miles; the popu
lation is 27,881; the taxable values as returned in 1916
amount to $17,341,000.00. The school population by the
census of 1913 was 5,789.
The county is traversed by the Southern Railway for
20 miles, by the Seaboard Airline Railway for 10 miles, by
the Georgia Railroad 25 miles, and by a belt line for 5
miles, and 25 miles of trolley lines.
The public roads of the county are for most part in
first-class condition, making transportation easy every
where. There are in the county the following municipali
ties: Decatur (county seat), Lithonia, Stone Mountain,
East Atlanta and Clarkeston.
DeKALB COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
At Stone Mountain, Lithonia, and a few other places are
extensive granite quarries, and there are several large fer
tilizer factories, Oil Mills, and other manufacturing plants
in the county. The rural sections of the county are devoted
largely to dairying and truck farming adjacent to the city
of Atlanta, the balance of the county, comprising approxi
mately three-fourths of its area, is a strictly agricultural
section, cotton being the main crop. Agriculture, like the
other interests of the county, has been brought to a high
state of development, and the county is prosperous.
EDUCATIONAL.
The educational assets of DeKalb county have been kept
fully abreast of the material interests, viewed either from
the money invested or the facilities offered.
While this survey is limited to the Public School system
of the county, attention is called to the other educational
institutions. While these great institutions of learning are
in nowise local, yet the county should benefit tremenduously
from their being located within its territory.
The county Public School System proper has certainly
made more progress, and is now making more rapid pro
gress with the possible exception of Tatnall, than any
other Georgia county.
We find here, if not an ideally, certainly a well organized
public school system. This cannot be said of very many
Georgia counties as yet.
The superintendent and county Board of Education seem
to have assumed in good faith the trust imposed upon them
by the people and are the business-like directors of public
school education in their county. They initiate and lead in
matters of educational progress, and do not wait to be driven
by a discontented patronage. Results have fully justified
such a policy and public sentiment proves the support they
have received at the hands of the citizens of the county.
Ample proof of this approving public sentiment is seen in
the tremendous majority vote of the county in favor of
local taxation for the better support of the schools, 1137
for and 442 votes against the taxation measure.
SUPERVISION.
A capable superintendent is elected and is employed by
the Board for his whole time. The superintendent gives
constant and definite supervision to the schools and re
quires weekly and monthly reports from all teachers. A
monthly meeting of all teachers is regularly held at his
office. He thus keeps in constant touch with the work of
every school.
The schools of the county have been divided into five
districts for contest purposes, and once a year there is a
contest of the pupils of all the schools at a central place in
each of these districts for the selection of representatives
to a later county-wide contest at some central place in the
county. These contests are in oratory, spelling, compo
sition, arithmetic, map-drawing, and athletics. They have
incidentally served to create and keep alive a strong and
wholesome school spirit among the pupils of the several
schools, and the contagion has spread widely among the
patrons and citizens These contests bring together an
nually large gatherings of the people in the several con
test districts, and later at the central point for the county
contest.
On these public occasions prizes are also awarded in the
following contests:
1. The school making the most improvements on the
school grounds during the year.
2. The school having the best school garden by the close
of the spring term. (The garden also counts in grading
for prize No. 1).
3. The school having the best kept building and class
rooms. (Not to apply to the quality of building).
4. The school enrolling the largest per cent of the chil
dren of the school district.
5. The school making the highest per cent of attend
ance.
6. The school having the largest per cent of its patrons
at the final contests.
It has been said that "no school will ever be any better
than its teacher". It may also be as well said that no
county system will ever be any better than its superin
tendent and Board of Education.
Working in full co-operation with the superintendent is
Miss Julia Sewell, Supervisor of Home Economics, and Mr.
R. S. Hunter, Farm Demonstrator, both secured through
co-operation of the county with the State College of Agri
culture.
MAINTENANCE.
During the summer of 1914 the county adopted the "coun
ty-wide" plan of local taxation for their schools. Under this
the Board of Education levies a school tax of 3 1-2 mills,
which yields $28,000.00. The county's pro rata of the State
school fund is $17,000.00, making a total annual mainte
nance fund of $45,000.00. This gives to the Board of Edu
cation sufficient funds to operate the schools for nine
months, pay the teachers liberally and promptly, and give
assistance to the various communities in building and re
pairing up-to-date school houses, and furnishing ample
school equipment.
A solution of the problem of maintenance does not solve,
but makes possible the solution of all other school prob
lems.
The public schools open at a uniform date about the first
of September, and continue for nine months, with few ex
ceptions. The regular Daily Reports of Attendance at each
school mailed to the superintendent at the end of each
week keeps the office constantly advised of the progress of
schools. There is system in the business. They know to
what extent it is succeeding.
THE SCHOOL HOUSES.
From the photographs herein it is readily seen that most
of the school houses were built for the purpose. They are
attractive, comfortable, sanitary. They were generally
planned with reference to the welfare of the children, and
not built hap-hazard to meet the whims of jack-leg car
penters who knew nothing of the requirements of present-
day school architecture. The important matter of proper
lighting, so commonly overlooked in most rural school
houses, has been given proper attention. School yards are
generally well cared for, and very many schools have well
kept gardens.
Playgrounds are provided at many of them, and at some
play appliances also. Play is intelligently supervised at
nearly all schools.
At practically all of the schools toilets are provided, and
at most of these they are kept in sanitary condition.
Generally, drinking water is kept in covered coolers, and
bubbling fountains or individual drink cups are the rule.
The school equipment and teachers' helps provided are
such as would be expected where other matters are so well
attended to. Most of the schools are provided with good
patent desks, many with single desks, teachers' desks, li
braries, first-class blackboards, maps, globes, reference dic
tionaries, etc.
SELF-ACTIVITIES.
At most of the schools are clubs of various kinds for
promoting self-activities among the pupils. Debating so
cieties, literary societies, garden clubs, sewing circles, cook
ing clubs, canning clubs, and corn clubs contribute much to
ward the proper development and education of the boys
and girls.
MISS JULIA SEWELL
Supervisor of Home Economics for DeKalb County.
The Boys' Corn Clubs are supervised by Mr. R. S. Hunt
er, the Farm Demonstrator for the county, while the Girls'
Canning Clubs are promoted by Miss Julia Sewell, the coun
ty Home Economics worker.
FOUR YEARS' PROGRESS IN DeKALB COUNTY SCHOOLS.
1912 1913 1914 1915 1916
Enrollment _________ 2,419 3,440 3,705
Average Attendance __ 1,365 1,846 2,OV2
State School Fund ____$16,122 $16,728 $17,171
1.
2.
3.
4. Local Tax _________ 8^365 ' 7',460 '15^632
5. Value of School Property $41,625 $42,000 $45,000
6.
7.
17
15
18
16
4,354 4,459
2,556 2,739
$16,788 $17,741
21,905 28,000
$65,610 $75,000
28 33
32 33
Completed School Houses
School with Patent Desks
Average monthly salary of
white Teachers ____ $51 $55 $55 $57 $57
9. Average monthly salary of
colored Teachers ___ $18 $18 $20 $20 $20
10. Teachers of normal
training _ _ ______ 20 18 30 52 55
11. Members of Corn and
Pit? Clubs ________ __ 35 70 91 172
12. Members of Canning and
Poultry Clubs _____ _ _ 65 79 124
13. School Libraries ___ __ 18 18 20 31 31
14. Standard Schools ____ __ 2 5 21 24
15. School Term (days) __ 135 135 140 180 180
16. Per Cent, of Illiteracy: (1908, 8.2; (1913), 4.9.
17. School Census: (1908), 5,166; (1913), 5,789.
The educational institutions located in DeKalb County
may be grouped as follows
1. Colleges and Universities. These do not come within
the survey, but are mentioned as located within the
county for information.
2. Municipal School Systems. These are operated under
several separate "Local Acts", and are more or less
connected with and related to the county system.
They were visited, but not as carefully inspected as
the rural and village schools of the county system
proper, but do serve the public school demands of
the county.
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3. The Standard Schools of the County System. There are
twenty-four of the public schools of the county which
have attained the Standard prescribed by the State,
and received their certificates of Standardization.
This is the largest number of any county in the
State.
4. The Near-Standard Schools, or such as striving to be
Standardized, but have not as yet received their cer
tificates, generally lacking in only a few particulars.
There are ten of these in the county, and some of
them will remain in this class for only a few months
longer.
5. Those schools that will not grade according to adopted
standards of measurement into any of above classes.
There are four of these.
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str»p fi TTfmri
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5. Choestoe. 6. Hood.
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r
SOME CONSOLIDATIONS ADVISABLE HERE.
1. Union School. James Patterson, Teacher. Delapidated building,
uncomfortable; insufficiently lighted; no school equipment.
One teacher; 7 grades; enrollment 33. One and three-
quarters miles from Mt. Zion School, 2 miles to Bruce.
2. Mt. Zion School. Miss Myrtle Mauney, Teacher. Large two-story
building, Lodge rooms overhead; two school rooms; fairly
good repair; painted; home-made desks; no school equip
ment; 7 grades; enrollment 61. One and three-fourths miles
to Union School, 2 miles to Olivet, 2 miles to Bruce, 2 1-2
miles to Bethany.
3. Bethany School. Miss Mary McClure, Teacher. Two-story build
ing, Lodge overhead; building in fairly good repair; home
made desks; no other school equipment. One teacher; 6
trades; enrollment 34. Two and one-half miles to Mt. Zion
chool, 2 miles to Union, 2 1-2 miles to Ivy Log.
4. Bruce School. Miss Flossie Cook, Teacher. Building recently
burned; temporary quarters, no equipment. One teacher;
enrollment 24. Two miles to Mt. Zion School, 2 miles to
Union, 2 miles to Olivet.
5. Mt. Olivet School. J. M. Clements, Teacher. This school being
temporarily closed we failed to see it. Described as average
in the county. One teacher; enrollment 47. Two miles to
Mt. Zion, 2 miles to Bruce, 2 miles to Union.
NOTE—It is entirely possible to make consolidations of some of
this group to the advantage of all. Efficiency demands it. A
business-like study of the situation will solve the problem.
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1. Union. 2. Mt. Zion. 3. Bethany.
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1. Bethlehem. 2. Confidence. 3. Camp Ground. 4. Providence.
1. Bethlehem School. W. O. Kincaid, Teacher. Old building in bad
repair; very badly lighted; long benches; good library case
with 150 volumes; U. S. map; no other school equipment.
Seven grades; enrollment 55. One and one-half miles south
to Confidence school.
2. Confidence School. E. L. Sullivan, Teacher. Church building;
very large room; long benches; no school equipment. One
teacher; 7 grades; enrollment 52. One and one-half miles
north to Bethlehem, 2 miles south to Camp Ground, 3 miles
east to Providence.
3. Camp Ground School. S. H. Neal, Teacher. Small building in
good repair; long benches; no school equipment. One teach
er; 7 grades; enrollment 50. Two miles north to Confidence,
2 1-2 miles east to Young Cane.
4. Providence School. Garnett Brackett, Teacher. Good church
building; painted; ceiled; insufficiently lighted; long benches;
no school equipment. One teacher; 6 grades; enrollment 38.
Three miles west to Confidence, 3 miles northwest to Beth
lehem, 3 miles northeast to Antioch.
NOTE—Near this is another group of schools which were tempor
arily closed, so not visited. They, also, are very near to each
other, and to some of above. They consist of Young Cane,
Bunker Hill, and Center Hill schools. See map.
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1. Pleasant Hill. 2. Windy Hill. 3. Brasstown Zion.
1. Pleasant Hill School. A. J. Ledford, Teacher. Grounds being well
graded; good building; ceiled; benches; blackboards; no
other school equipment; 7 grades; enrollment 41. School
building, but used for church services. Three miles from
Blairsville.
2. Windy Hill School. Miss Lula Rogers, Teacher. Two miles north
east from Blairsville; good building; seated with long benches;
no school equipment; 6 grades; enrollment 22.
3. Brasstown Zion School. Miss Irwin, Teacher. Located very near
Towns county line; four miles east of Windy Hill School;
good building; sand table; blackboards: map; long benches;
5 grades; enrollment 18. ;
NOTE—At least two of above schools should be consolidated. Windy
Hill is too near to Blairsville, and Brasstown Zion is too near
the county line. One good school located between the two would
better serve the cause and be more convenient to the patronage,
except such as could easily reach Blairsville.
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5.
1. Shady Dale.
Ivy Log.
1. Shady Dale School. C. J. Dyer, Teacher. Good building; poorly
lighted; partly ceiled; long benches; no school equipment;
7 grades; enrollment 49.
2. Berry School. Miss Lou Self, Teacher. Good building; unceiled;
very small windows; long benches; 7 grades; enrollment 32.
No school equipment.
3. Harmony Grove. Miss Irene Penland, Teacher. Small building;
ceiled; poorly lighted; clean and well kept; small lot well
cleaned up; long benches; no school equipment; 7 grades; en
rollment 48. Two miles south to Shady Dale, 3 miles southeast
to Berry School. 3 miles north to Blairsville, 4 miles east
to Track Rock.
4. Timber Ridge School. Miss Nellie McClure, Teacher. Small, un
finished, rough building; insufficiently lighted; lot cleaned
off and well kept; long benches, map, and blackboard; 7
grades; enrollment 28. Remote from other schools. See
map.
5. Ivy Log School. A. L. McClure, Teacher. Church building; no
school equipment; 7 grades; enrollment 30. See map for
location.
6. New Hope School. Miss Laura Mauney, Teacher. Teaching tem
porarily in a dwelling; no school equipment; 6 grades; en
rollment 34. See map.
7. Spriggs' Chapel School. J. H. Seabolt, Teacher. Church building;
seated with long benches; very little school equipment; 7
grades; enrollment 21. This school seems to serve a com
munity that could not easily reach any other school location.
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Blairsville. (Negro School.)
THE ONLY NEGRO SCHOOL IN UNION COUNTY.
Teacher: Miss Ruth Lee (Educated at Trinity College, S. C.)
Located near Blairsville; small but comfortable building; ceiled;
poorly lighted; home-made desks, blackboards, .maps, charts; build
ing in good repair and neatly kept; 5 grades; enrollment 13. Chil
dren well supplied with books.
According to the census of 1913 there are only 19 negro children
in Union County.
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The following minimum standard of efficiency for rural
schools sent to the various counties by the State School Su
perintendent has been largely used as the basis of measure
ment in the survey.
Educational results and good teaching generally are not
often secured in a shiftless-looking building in which
neither patrons, pupils, nor teachers take any pride. In-
definiteness has been removed at this point through the
standard school. In the larger towns and cities pressure
of public sentiment and the comment of visitors will sooner
or later force good educational conditions—and they are im
proving constantly. Rural communities need to be shown
and inspired by educational leaders and we have sent di
plomas to two hundred forty-six county schools where the
superintendents have certified to the fact that they have
measured up to the standard in every particular. Fulton,
Newton and Hancock have received half of these, and there
are a number of localities in the State where the feeling is
that no rural community in the county is able to bring its
school up to these very reasonable requirements. I cannot
help but think that this is a mistaken view and that some
standard schools could be secured in every county in Geor
gia and that these would serve to inspire the others to pro
gress. Superintendents have written that the use of this
efficiency test has developed more progress in the past
twelve months than for years previous in the way of im
provement. The plan is of no value, however, where it is
not used or applied and I earnestly hope we will have the
effort at least of every Superintendent in the State to have
his county represented on this roll of honor. The list will
be published in the next Annual Report. The standard is
not unreasonably high and no more than the Georgia parent
has the right to expect. Copies should be posted in every
county school room in the State and can be secured for this
purpose at any time on application to the State Department
of Education. To be entitled to a diploma a school should
measure up to the standard in the following particulars:
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GEORGIA STANDARD SCHOOL.
I.
The Teacher.
1. Good Teaching.
2. Good Order and Management.
3. First Grade Certificate.
4. Full, Neat, and Accurate
School Register.
5. Daily Program Posted i n
Room.
6. Teacher's Manual on Desk.
II.
Grounds.
1. Good Condition.
2. Playgrounds.
3. School Garden.
4. Two Separate Sanitary
Closets.
III.
Building.
1. Painted Outside.
2. Plastered, or Ceiled and Paint
ed.
3. No Leaks.
4. Windows without Broken
Panes.
5. Cloak Rooms.
6. Good Doors with Locks and
Keys.
7. Clean and well-kept.
IV.
Equipment.
1. Patent Modern Desks.
2. At least 20 lineal feet of
Blackboard per Room.
3. Building- Comfortably Heated
and Ventilated.
4. Framed Pictures on the Wall.
5. Dictionary, Maps, and Library.
6. Sanitary Water Supply.
V.
Associated Activities.
1. Manual Arts, Corn, Canning,
Poultry, or Cooking Club.
VI.
Salary of Teacher.
At least $40 per month.
VII.
Term.
At least seven months.
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